Are you hosting a party soon, or preparing for guests? Having a few cheap and easy appetizers on hand can go a long way in keeping people happy while not driving you insane.
We’ll get straight to the point with the recipes because, after all, if you’re getting ready to host people at your place, you probably don’t have time to scroll through stories!
In this article, you’ll find recipes for:
- Spinach Dip – Cold
- Spinach & Artichoke Dip – Hot
- Deviled Eggs
- Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts
- Veggie Pizza
- Spinach Balls
Spinach Dip – Cold
Dips are one of the best-crowd pleasers in the world of cheap and easy appetizers. Many dips are simple to make and don’t require expensive ingredients.
Making spinach dip appetizer recipe is quite easy! There are many variations on this affordable appetizer, but you can use this recipe as a good starting point for tweaking your own.
Ingredients:
- 1 package (10 oz) thawed and drained frozen chopped spinach
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 container (16 oz) sour cream
- Optional adds: 1 package dry leek soup mix, 1 can artichoke hearts
Directions:
- Simply mix ingredients together – that’s it!
Serve with vegetables, toasted pita bread or slices of French bread. Some people even serve it in a sourdough bread bowl.
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Spinach and Artichoke Dip – Hot
For a cheesier variant of this easy appetizer that’s served hot, try a spinach and artichoke dip.
With similar ingredients to the simple spinach dip, this dish is also fairly cheap to make – but still delicious.
Ingredients:
- 1 package (8oz) cream cheese
- ½ cup thawed and drained frozen spinach
- 1 can (14 oz) drained artichoke hearts
- 1/4 cup each: shredded mozzarella cheese, grated Romano cheese, grated parmesan cheese,
- 1 minced garlic clove
- Salt and Pepper
Directions:
- Mix ingredients together
- Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes, or until bubbly and slightly browned
Serve with toasted French bread slices, pita slices or tortilla chips.
Deviled Eggs
A beloved classic among the cheap appetizers, deviled eggs are usually a sure win for serving guests. And they’re so easy to make!
Ingredients:
- 12 eggs, hardboiled
- 1/3 cup of mayonnaise
- 1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
- Salt and Pepper
- Paprika
- Optional adds: Minced shallot, minced pickle, tobacco sauce
The best way to boil eggs is to start them in the water cold, then bring to a boil. Let them boil for one minute, then turn off the heat to let them simmer for about 15 minutes.
Another great way to harden your eggs is to steam them for about 15 minutes.
Directions:
- Peel the eggs and cut in half, lengthwise.
- Remove the yellow yolks into a separate bowl.
- Mix in the mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper and any optional adds into the yolks and blend until creamy.
- Spoon the mixture back into the egg halves, or pipe it in with a plastic bag.
- Sprinkle with paprika
Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts
A surefire winner, and a standout among cheap appetizers, these bacon-wrapped water chestnuts have long been served at parties.
Water chestnuts have a neutral flavor, so they pair wonderfully with the sweet sticky bacon – with a bit of a subtle kick.
Ingredients:
- 32 water chestnuts
- Package of bacon, with strips cut into thirds or quarters
- 3 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 3 Tablespoon maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon each of: cumin, garlic powder, smoked paprika
Directions:
- Whisk together the brown sugar, maple syrup and spices.
- Wrap each chestnut with a piece of bacon, secured by a toothpick
- Brush each bacon-wrapped water chestnut with the sugar-syrup mixture
- Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, until bacon is crisp
Serve with a dipping sauce such as honey mustard.
Veggie Pizza
This super easy appetizers is also cheap to make, and a definite crowd-pleaser. The secret ingredient here is a dash of Worcestershire sauce to deliver a savory kick to the creamy veggies.
With a crescent roll crust, these hand-held cheap appetizers usually go fast. Fortunately, this recipe easily makes dozens of servings, depending on how you cut it.
Ingredients:
- 2 (8 oz) packages of crescent rolls
- 1 (8 oz) carton of sour cream
- Dash of Worcestershire sauce
- Dash of lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon horseradish
- Veggie Mix. (Example: Sliced Mushrooms, chopped tomatos, broccoli florets, chopped green pepper, chopped green onion)
Directions:
- Flatten crescent rolls onto baking pan (15X10X1 inch works well), and bake 14 to 19 minutes at 375 degrees
- Mix sour cream with spices and seasonings
- Spread sour cream mix over crust like you would pizza sauce
- Top with veggies
- Cut into servings
You can pre-make this along with other easy and cheap appetizers so you can have them on hand without lots of cooking the day of your party.
If you are pre-making these easy apps, refrigerate them.
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Spinach Balls
For an easy finger-food that’s also cheap to make, these spinach balls are both attractive and delicious.
These affordable appetizers were popular in the 1940s. They may not be perfectly healthy, but no one’s expecting health food at a party. Live a little with these yummy little treats.
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cup dry dressing mix
- Box of frozen spinach (10 oz), cooked and drained
- 2 eggs
- 1 stick of butter
- ½ cup parmesan or Romano
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- A little chopped onion
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions:
- Mix all the ingredients
- Form into little balls, about half-inch
- Bake at 350 degrees on a cookie sheet for about 15 minutes
You can make these easy appetizers long before your event and freeze them. Then, right before serving, reheat them at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
The Bottom Line
Having a successful get-together doesn’t mean you have to have a lot of people. What matters the most is that your guests enjoy themselves.
And a key to keeping your party-goers happy is serving plenty of delicious food. Fortunately, you now have a list of cheap appetizers that are easy to make – most importantly without spending a lot of money.
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